Exercising Gratitude: 30 Days - 3
Bananas.
It seems a crime to run out of them at our house. The perfect on-the-go snack - all-natural packaging, densely caloric.
And when you get too many and they start to ripen, and friends are about to come over and you need to whip out a cake in no time...bananas to the rescue.
And when your kids need extra calories to pack on them for school lunches...bananas.
And when you can't think of anything to eat - grab a banana. Or make banana bread.
I'm glad God invented the humble banana, and that people in their creativity invented banana recipes.
Food is interesting - we share recipes and forever link it to a person. Every time I make banana bread I think of Robyn, who gave me the recipe. And I have some recipes that are hand-written by faithful friends - seeing Becky's handwriting on my Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe always reminds me of the days in her kitchen when she was whipping up a batch and serving them warm and gooey fresh from the oven. Memories like these inspire me and make me want to be that kind of Mom.
So, for today, I give you Robyn's Banana Bread (of course you can call it Sarah's, or whatever, since now I'm the one giving it to you :) ), and Nisa's Banana Cake. (While 6 loaves sit baking in my oven)...
Robyn's Banana Bread
Cream: 2 c. sugar, 1 c. shortening
Add: 6 ripe mashed bananas, 4 eggs well beaten
Mix: 2 1/2 c. flour, 1 t salt, 2 t. baking soda
Spray pans
Blend wet and dry ingredients.
Don't overmix
350 degrees 45-50 minutes, do the toothpick test. Then another 1/2 hour probably.
Since I can never follow a recipe exactly, and because this is a heavy laden recipe - I like to add a few things to give it more heft: substitute up to half with whole grain flour, add wheat germ, wheat bran, oats, nutritional yeast flakes. I just toss in a bit of whatever healthy stuff I have around.
Nisa's Banana Cake (with modifications by me!)
1 yellow cake mix
1 1/4 water
1/3 c. oil
3 whole eggs
2 large mashed banans
2 t baking soda
****Extra optional ingredient: Almond cake and pastry filling (this makes everything yummy)
(Mix and bake til done)
Frosting:
12 oz cream cheese
1/4 c. butter/margarine
2 t. vanilla extract (I use a little almond extract too)
4 c. powdered sugar
It seems a crime to run out of them at our house. The perfect on-the-go snack - all-natural packaging, densely caloric.
And when you get too many and they start to ripen, and friends are about to come over and you need to whip out a cake in no time...bananas to the rescue.
And when your kids need extra calories to pack on them for school lunches...bananas.
And when you can't think of anything to eat - grab a banana. Or make banana bread.
I'm glad God invented the humble banana, and that people in their creativity invented banana recipes.
Food is interesting - we share recipes and forever link it to a person. Every time I make banana bread I think of Robyn, who gave me the recipe. And I have some recipes that are hand-written by faithful friends - seeing Becky's handwriting on my Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe always reminds me of the days in her kitchen when she was whipping up a batch and serving them warm and gooey fresh from the oven. Memories like these inspire me and make me want to be that kind of Mom.
So, for today, I give you Robyn's Banana Bread (of course you can call it Sarah's, or whatever, since now I'm the one giving it to you :) ), and Nisa's Banana Cake. (While 6 loaves sit baking in my oven)...
Robyn's Banana Bread
Cream: 2 c. sugar, 1 c. shortening
Add: 6 ripe mashed bananas, 4 eggs well beaten
Mix: 2 1/2 c. flour, 1 t salt, 2 t. baking soda
Spray pans
Blend wet and dry ingredients.
Don't overmix
350 degrees 45-50 minutes, do the toothpick test. Then another 1/2 hour probably.
Since I can never follow a recipe exactly, and because this is a heavy laden recipe - I like to add a few things to give it more heft: substitute up to half with whole grain flour, add wheat germ, wheat bran, oats, nutritional yeast flakes. I just toss in a bit of whatever healthy stuff I have around.
Nisa's Banana Cake (with modifications by me!)
1 yellow cake mix
1 1/4 water
1/3 c. oil
3 whole eggs
2 large mashed banans
2 t baking soda
****Extra optional ingredient: Almond cake and pastry filling (this makes everything yummy)
(Mix and bake til done)
Frosting:
12 oz cream cheese
1/4 c. butter/margarine
2 t. vanilla extract (I use a little almond extract too)
4 c. powdered sugar
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